EPA Proposes to Add Wilcox Oil Site in Creek Co., OK, to National Priorities List of Superfund Sites

(Dallas – May 21, 2013) Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it proposes to add the Wilcox Oil Company site in Creek County, Oklahoma, to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, a list of sites that pose risks to people’s health and the environment. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

The site, about 35 miles southwest of Tulsa, consists of the former Lorraine and Wilcox Refinery. The two companies operated refineries and associated facilities on the property from 1915 to 1965. The 125-acre site includes remnants of the former oil refining operations and tank farms. Contaminants at the site include metals—mainly lead—and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, a group of chemicals found in crude oil that might cause cancer or reproductive and skin effects.

“Cleaning up severely contaminated sites is one of EPA’s most important priorities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. “By restoring these properties we’re protecting people’s health and helping to revitalize the community’s land and economy.”

Adding the Wilcox Oil site to the NPL will allow for extensive cleanup of contamination. The EPA will seek public comment on adding the site to the NPL for 60 days and consider any comments received as it makes a final decision.

Since 1983 EPA has listed 1,685 sites on the NPL. In addition to the Wilcox site, eight other sites around the country were also proposed to be added to the list.